Dame Joan Collins slams 'disgusting' e-bikes blocking pavements with riders facing 'lifetime ban' for offences

The actress was left furious after finding several e-bikes clogging up London pavements, blocking the way for pedestrians.

She shared on Instagram: "Shocked about the loutish behaviour of Lime bicycle users, pavements are for pedestrians, Lime bike".

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Collins has not been the only person to react negatively to e-bikes being parked on the pavement. In the comment section of the Instagram post, followers also chimed in on the criticism, with one person describing the situation as "absolutely disgusting", while another called the behaviour by riders "unbelievably selfish".

Meanwhile, someone else warned that e-bikes are now "everywhere" in London and have been "dumped" by riders in a "disgraceful" move.

A third commenter added: "Unbelievably selfish, I agree. These ill-mannered bike riders are not people you want to share a city with. They have an amazing sense of their own importance and entitlement. So easy to regulate them."

To combat the number of e-bikes incorrectly parked, Transport for London has taken action against the e-bike operators, with reports finding that the authority has issued more than £30,000 in penalty fines.

The fines target bikes that have been dumped and left blocking pavements across London, with TfL using CCTV footage to gather evidence of e-bikes blocking roads and pavements.

Photographs are then sent to the operators of the e-bikes, who are then urged to relocate the vehicles to proper parking areas, with sanctions issued if they fail to comply.

TfL commissioner Andy Lord told the London Evening Standard: "Since January, we have been actively addressing the issue of e-bikes abandoned on the highway through Operation Clearway. Our officers have been stationed at key hotspots across London to identify and report such cases."

The operation represents TfL's latest attempt to tackle the growing problem of improperly parked e-bikes throughout the capital.

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Under current rules, e-bike riders must park responsibly without blocking pavements or access routes, with riders risking penalties for improper use.

Lime, one of the main operators in London, said in its guidance: "Depending on where you end your trip in London, you'll either need to park your Lime in a parking bay, bike rack or neatly to the side of the pavement."

But Lime acknowledged the parking issues while also defending that its services have helped transform London's transport offerings.

A Lime spokesman said: "We take the issue of poor parking very seriously and we're working closely with TfL to help keep London's streets accessible for everyone."

Earlier this year, the company invested £5million to create more than 2,500 dedicated parking spaces to tackle the pavement parking problem.

Meanwhile, another operator, Forest, explained that it has introduced no parking zones in sensitive areas and enhanced its 24/7 operations with in-app AI that reviews end-of-ride photographs to reduce poorly parked bikes.

In the Forest Action plan, it detailed: "When we first launched in London, we set the bar for delivering a responsible parking-bay model, rewarding users for parking in bays and supplementing the network by forming private partnerships.

"Forest has a four-strike system: warning, fine, two-week suspension and lifetime ban. To increase parking compliance in boroughs that have implemented a Mandatory parking bay model, fines for abandoning a bike outside of a bay will increase to £20, doubling the current fine of £10."